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Rescuer spares turtles' shell shock

Scott Bryant

Jordan Gray gently cleans up a diamondback terrapin egg he extracted from a female that was killed by traffic on U.S. 80 Wednesday. The eggs will be incubated and hatched at Armstrong Atlantic State University.

Scott Bryant

One lucky female diamondback terrapin was found by Gray on the side of U.S. 80 before she tried to make it across to lay her eggs. Gray marks and catalogues all his live captures before releasing them.

Consider the diamondback terrapin. Top speed: less than 1 mph. Consider U.S. 80. Top speed: often a good deal more than 55 mph. When the marsh turtles try to cross the highway to lay eggs, as they do at this time of year, it can be a crushing experience.

That's where Jordan Gray comes in. The Armstrong Atlantic State University biology major patrols the highway daily in his maroon Ford Explorer.

If it's safe to do so, he gives transiting turtles a lift to their destination. For injured turtles, he administers first aid before transporting them to a rehabilitation center on St. Catherines Island. He extracts eggs from dead terrapins and salvages what he can for incubation.

Tropical Storm Alberto's rains make the next few days prime ones for egg-laying, and consequently, important days for drivers to be especially alert, Gray said.

"They like hot, sunny weather after a rain storm," Gray said. "That's the highest time to be at caution for turtle crossings."

Terry Norton, a wildlife veterinarian with the St. Catherines Island Center secured the funds for Gray's rescue-and-research operation with a $2,100 grant from the Savannah Presbytery's M.K. Pentecost Ecology Fund.

Last year, 260 diamondback terrapins were killed on U.S. 80, according to Norton.

"That's a lot of turtles," he said. "If it happens every year, eventually that's going to be a problem."

Gray offers these tips for motorists:

Keep to the speed limit and don't tailgate. You'll have more time to react if you see a turtle crossing.

Don't stop in the road to help a turtle. If you can pull over safely and feel compelled to help, deposit the turtle in the direction it was headed. Terrapins have small home ranges. "Moving them somewhere else is not doing them a favor because they're going to go right back to where they were," Gray said.

Call the Terrapin Rescue Patrol Hotline at 659-0978 to report a terrapin, alive or dead, on U.S. 80.